Soulless
by Sir Helios Knight of Valor
Summary: What reason is there to keep going without a soul? Where would you find you motivation? These thoughts all run through her head. But above all, she must keep this secret from her team. Should they find out, they would only suffer alongside her. (No OC's, One-shot)


**Hello! This is a short one-shot I've been working on in my spare time since I had this idea. While I don't explicitly state whose point of view this is from, it is possible to find out through logic. I hope you enjoy.**

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><p>Perhaps if they had stopped her, things wouldn't have ended up how they did. They thought to themselves. After all, there had been many signs that what they had been doing was reckless, which seemed glaringly obvious in hindsight. But they didn't care. Lamenting about the past is pointless, and besides, their biggest concern for now was the future. How would they hide something this big? Even if they managed to pull off the act, how would they hide the damned Amulet that wouldn't budge from her neck?<p>

They felt another jab of pain, constricting their neck. It seems the process wasn't quite finished after all, but what the hell was there left for it to take? As they lay there on the cold stone, motionless, they knew deep down that they had lost everything. They had taken a stupid risk for information, and now they were paying the price for it.

They wanted the rest of their team to be okay, above all else, but they knew that was something they couldn't provide, safety. They instinctively knew what the Amulet entailed, every little detail. At least the heartless bastard who made it had the decency to tell its victim what it did. Still, they would have to return, for their team's sake, as dangerous as it was. If they knew something was amiss, they may come looking for them. Besides, they knew it was possible to fight the urge, just very, VERY challenging.

They didn't fight the urge now, though, as a few Grimm happened to wander by the area. Two Ursai. They walked curiously over to the motionless figure that lay on the cold, hard stone floor. That was another thing about the Amulet, it drew all living things around you too you. By rights, the Grimm should've ignored them. After all, they didn't have any negative emotions. Not at the moment. The Amulet had taken their emotions, and it didn't seem to want to give them back at the moment.

They would have to fight it to feel again, but they didn't yet. They let the Ursai approach. When one leaned down to sniff them, they lunged upwards suddenly, punching a hole through its head. Their arm was shredded on the spikes in the process, but they didn't care. They felt a deep sense of joy watching it die. The other Ursa turned to try and fight them, but they grabbed its head in a single hand, and forced their hand close, smashing its face into pieces.

They gently lay themselves back down, not feeling the pain in the slightest, letting their body mend itself. They whistled merrily as the Grimm besides them melted away, turning back into the shadows they were. A litre of blood had dripped down their arm at this stage, but their body drained their aura to replenish that almost instantly. Another great thing about the Amulet. Although, technically it wasn't _their_ aura anymore. They no longer had that privilege, did they?

They looked down, and noticed their body wasn't breathing, nor did they blink. Huh, it would take a lot of work to get in the habit of doing such unimportant things, simply so their team would buy it. They might as well practise. They sat up, feeling the strange feeling of air flooding through their mouth and into their lungs. When they exhaled, their air went right back out again, tickling them on the way. It was still Oxygen, not Co2 as they hadn't actually used it, but it would do for now.

As they began to get into the steady rhythm of in and out, every ten seconds, they began blinking. That felt even stranger, for their eyes had no reason to close, as they no longer needed to sleep. Or rest, aside from healing their injuries. Or do anything, really. The cursed Amulet sustain all of their needs. They could glance at a person and discover their aspirations and hopes, and deepest fears. They could find the weak spot in anything, dismantling it with a single blow. But the price it came at…

They sighed, as much effort as it took to replicate the action, which still seemed a bit off, and gazed up directly at the sun. They had two hours, fifty-seven minutes and twenty-three seconds until dusk. They stood up fully, barely noticing their own weight as their body assumed a perfectly upright position. They turned to the direction they knew Beacon Academy was in, and despite knowing it was nearly a hundred kilometres away, they began sprinting, knowing their would reach it with hours to spare.

Which was just as well, given that tonight, if they didn't return, their team would think something was amiss. They just prayed to whatever deity there was, despite being cruel enough to let them discover the Amulet, that they would be able to pull off the act.

No… not they, _she_. That's right, she was a girl, wasn't she? What colour were her eyes again? She didn't know. But more importantly, what was her name? She shrugged. Her team was the only thing she remembered clearly, and she was sure one of them would accidentally let her know.

They noticed a tree in their way, easily twenty metres tall and two metres wide. That didn't concern them. When they reached it in the height of their charge, they just ploughed right through. And with a horrible groan, the tree fell behind them.

They maintained their inhumane sprint, covering dozens of metres each second. They remembered they had gone this fast, one before. But before they could remember anything, the memory faded and was gone. They would've growled in frustration, except they no longer felt frustration.

An idea occurred to them on how to conceal the Amulet, the cursed magical Amulet that had torn their life away from them, and did that as they went. Its powers almost doubled now that it was covered, but they didn't care. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to pull this off.

Maybe they would be able to live, despite this cursed Amulet forcing their soul out of their body and into a triangle of fading metal, engraved with millions of runes.

As they ran, they growled in frustration as their hair got in their face. It was good practice.

Maybe they might even find a way to get their soul back.

But really, their hair was way too long… it was impractical.

But most importantly, they HAD to find a way to keep the rest of team RWBY from finding out. No matter what.

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><p>When they arrived, their team was waiting for them. One of their teammates acknowledged that the group was all here, they considered it a pointless statement, but still contributed it to their memory, trying desperately to learn the mannerisms of those around her. She began reaching out for her memories, fighting through the mental wall that stood between her and them, and she began to recall the basics. Not much, but just enough to get by.<p>

She breathed and smiled and blinked, joining in the conversation where she saw fit, but mostly staying quite and observing, especially when her team glanced subconsciously at her, indicating that they expected her to respond or make a comment. Even the slightest flicker of an eye was enough. She made an excuse as to being tired, which was why she was so withdrawn. It didn't seem to matter, though. All of them were tired and a bit more withdrawn, so no one really noticed.

It was true she was exhausted. She wasn't confident enough to tell a lie yet, so she stuck to part truths. The real reason she wasn't joining in the conversation was she was terrified of making a mistake. She didn't want her team to suffer with her, not the people that are closest to her. Or were closest to her. She wasn't sure any relationships that remained still counted anymore.

She would have to be even more careful when classes started, she realise. She would have to learn quickly, because the teachers were even more observant than her team. While killing those who came close to the truth was a possibility, it was also inconvenient and a last resort.

Why did it have to be so complicated? Her mission should've been a success. Luckily for her, no one was asking about her mission. They knew it was personal, so would try to avoid it, but it was only a matter of time before it happened. She would have to make up a response.

She noticed someone poking her repeatedly on the shoulder. She couldn't feel any part of her, so it was by pure chance that she had managed to notice quickly enough to not cause concern, something that caused alarm in her mind. She would have to be more careful.

"Yeah?" She asked, her voice sounding so… weird. Talking felt plain wrong, as if she shouldn't be doing it. But she knew if she acted that antisocial, her teammates would notice.

"You just kinda… space out." Her teammate replied, sounding concerned.

"Sorry, I'm really tired. Would anyone be offended if I went to bed?" No-one had any objections, so she walked back towards their dorms, unaware that behind her one of her teammates subtly but firmly made contact with her. She couldn't feel it, after all. They person who did that was unaware why they felt the urge, but it had confirmed for them something was up. Something they intended to find more about.

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><p>Several weeks later, her partner had confronted her, demanding through the pretence of simple questions to know what was up with her. They were never a very direct person. She had asked what caused this, and they listed dozens of little things. Every tiny mistake they had made, even some they had thought no one was around to see. Such as the night they hadn't breathed, and lay motionless staring at the ceiling, or the time they had tripped and cut a gash in their arm, only for it to heal within seconds.<p>

She faked anger and insult at the questions, as much as it hurt her. Her teammate was hurt more, feeling absolutely terrible by the time they were finished their lie about emotional things they had been going through lately and all the stress they had gone through. Their teammate had apologised, and backed off, which hurt more than anything.

So she sat up on the roof, crying, or rather pretending to. She wanted to cry. She wanted to feel. All she had was the memory of what a certain emotion felt like. She wanted an escape from the nothingness that was painful enough for a millennia. A millennia she would probably live through. The cursed Amulet had taken her mortality, too. Something she discovered when she shot herself through the forehead, and when she flung herself through the rotating blades of an airship.

She new that wouldn't kill her. That hadn't been why she had done it. Those acts allowed her to experience a brief moment of fleeting pain. Sometimes, pain was better than nothing. Pain meant you were still real.

So in her tortured mind, she began to think. She hated humanity, the race that had done this to her. They burned and destroyed with no reason, making the decision to burn and destroy. The Grimm were nowhere near as bloodthirsty as humanity. She no longer wanted to help them, or hurt the Grimm. But she would stay to help her team, the three people in the world she considered to be worth saving.

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><p>She supposed she was lucky, in a way, to last three months against her urges. Every day she felt an amount of bloodlust that left her in awe. But she had managed to avoid getting seriously injured, which would have impaired her ability to think clearly.<p>

That ended on the day she was sparring the blonde boy in team JNPR. Jaune, wasn't it? The last time she had seen him he had been such a pathetic excuse for a fighter, she had been caught off guard by his rapid improvement. He had gone from novice to master over less than a dozen weeks, a feat that would take most years.

That unexpected development is why she has a sword sticking out of her chest, having pierced through her heart. The boy panicked, thinking he had killed her. She averts her eyes downwards to the wound, gently gripping the sword and wrenching it out from her chest. She feels those around her frozen in confusion that she is still moving. They know she can take a hit, but they also know that should have killed her.

She throws the sword down on the ground, the wound already healing and closing off as her team stare at her in shock and horror. There was a hint of betrayal in their eyes, as she hadn't told them she could survive that type of wound.

"I-I…" she begins, before she sprints off, crying, running as far away from Beacon as she can. Her tears are genuine, which is nice. At least she gets to enjoy her own misery. Within minutes, her team are on her trail, as is a concerned Jaune and a few other people she has no recollection of having met before.

She speeds up, reaching speeds that only one of them could match, but they were too panicky to use effectively. She sprints for hours, before collapsing into a cave and breaking down. She is unsure of how long she passed out, but by the time she came to, her tail had caught up to her somehow, and several concerned faces are looking at her.

One of her team steps forward and calls her name. Them tracking her made more sense as she remembers the girl's heritage. But she no longer believed she had claim to that name.

"What was that all about?" The girl asks. They are all out of breath. "And why have you stopped breathing? Are you okay?" The panic in their voices punches a hole through her metaphorical heart, and her vision goes black as she loses control.

When she wakes, she is kneeling, staring down at the bodies of two of the people who had chased her. Her team and Jaune stand around her, their faces those of hate misapprehension. Her arms are covered in blood, none of which is her own. The two hunters had died without a struggle.

She turns and flees, horrified of what her team would think of her now think of her. She covers kilometres in seconds, and the worst part is she feels something. Not hate, not sadness, but a deep pleasure from having killed those two hunters. Killing humans was fun, and as much as she tries, she knows it will only be a matter of time before she kills again.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Comments and criticism are welcome, as I am trying to improve as a writer, so please, leave your opinion if you feel compelled to.<strong>

**Sincerely,**

**Knight of Valor**


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